[41] The conspiracy of secrecy is used to explain why Hoddinott probably with good reason, chose to remain anonymous, as the account implicated Angus McMillan as the leader of this murderous retaliation. While the murder was well documented in contemporary newspaper accounts, the reports also indicate that by mid-1843, Gippsland was in a state of disarray. Light refreshments will be available. Some basic research puts Hatchers account into context. Gardner, Peter, 'The Warrigal Creek massacre', Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, pp. Bookings free, but essential. In other words, by coincidence, Robinson and Hatcher arrived in Gippsland at exactly the same time. Historical. [32] Gardners work has been influential and generally unquestioned. Buntines Bruthen Creek run was several miles and several squatting runs to the west of Warrigal Creek. In July 1844 he wrote, I regret however to observe that the depredations of the Aborigines continue and that the small police force at my disposal is inadequate to put a stop to them. He went on to describe how the natives have been very troublesome, killing 90 head of cattle belonging to Mr Sparks, at various times, and many belonging to Mr Jones. Peter Gardner[1]. Establishing this will entail the evaluation of all historical themes and not rejecting or ignoring evidence because it does not fit a preconceived narrative. He also stated: There are many persons congregated in Alberton, without any visible means of earning a livelihood, a parcel of the most lawless rogues. Much has been written about the massacre of Aboriginal people that is believed to have occurred at Warrigal Creek in Gippsland in 1843. [52] There could not have been a cover-up if human remains were still visible after their arrivals. 0000024533 00000 n However, Thomas, Hatcher and Meyrick did not mention Warrigal Creek as Gardner claimsand they certainly did not mention McMillan. 0000116911 00000 n Don't miss the first Melbourne screening of an important new film, The Warrigal Creek Massacre, by former @Swinburne staff Andrew Dodd and Lisa Gye and assisted by current and former Swinburne. [7], Many histories of Gippsland have quaint notions of founding fathers, churches and shires, but the reality is that squatters occupied the region in order to capture a share of the filthy lucre of the Van Diemens Land convict economy. The murder of Ranald Macalister may have been the pretext for an attack on the Kurnai at Warrigal Creek or Gammon Creek but this is not borne out by the contemporary historical record. At a quiet bend on a beautiful creek they committed one of the worst acts of indiscriminate killing in the Australian colonies. searching events in no time. The Warrigal Creek Massacre on Vimeo. [1] Gardner, P. D. (1993) Gippsland Massacres (third edition) Ngarak Press, Ensay, Victoria, p. 66, [3] Howitt, A W (1880) The Kurnai: Their Customs in Peace and War in Fison, L. and Howitt, A W Kamilaroi and Kurnai Anthropological Publications, Oosterhout, facsimile edition, pp 227-29, [6] Morris, H. B. Voice.Treaty.Truth. 0000002733 00000 n Around 60 Indigenous Australians were killed, and many more were wounded. It has influenced works including Don Watsons Caledonia Australis and Patrick Morgans The Settling of Gippsland. The Warrigal Creek Massacre - the documentary There have now been two packed-out screenings of this documentary at Stratford. [17], This story was repeated in several of the colonial newspapers but there does not seem to have been any follow-up reports. Perhaps the most apt way to name these outrageous and brutal occurrences is that they be called after the man who organised and perpetrated them: Angus McMillan. ?6m-^a_DD/UJ[ Gardner cites other versions of the death of Macalister and the massacre to build his narrative, all based on Gippslander or otherwise post-Dunderdale. In a letter to his family in England dated April 1846, the Gippsland squatter Henry Meyrick said: .css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The blacks are very quiet here now, poor wretches. <>/ExtGState<>/XObject<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/MediaBox[ 0 0 595.4 841.8] /Contents 4 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S/StructParents 0>> Still from the Warrigal Creek Documentary produced by Swinburne University Introduction On 30 December 2020 Quadrant published an article entitled "The Warrigal Creek Massacre: True Story or Apocryphal?" by Wayne Caldow1, which was a general attack on my work and in particular on the Warrigal Creek massacre. At the end of 1845, Tyers wrote a follow-up report stating: since the return of the Native Police to Head Quarters the depredations of the Aborigines of the District on the property of the Settlers, including horses as well as horned stock, have increased to an alarming extentand that I cannot at present suggest any other means of prevention, than the continuing service of the Native Police.[27]. The Author at Warrigal Creek 2016. Bunjileene was a leader of the Gunaikurnai people and Purrine was the head of the Lowanjerri tribe of the Bunurong. <>>> Emotional articles in the Guardian in 2019 parroted the denunciation of McMillan, as did the Gippsland Times in June 2020. From 1839, Angus McMillan tried on numerous occasions to reach Corner Inlet from the Monaro District and finally succeeded in February 1841 when he reached the tidal bank of the Albert River. One was a boy at the time about 12 or 14 years old. 0 Advice: This page does not contain images of people who have died. Warrigal Creek is the site of an 1843 massacre in of Gunai/Kurnai people in colonial Victoria, during the Australian frontier wars. The Warrigal Creek Massacre, a documentary exploring the history of colonisation in Gippsland in the 1800s, is screening at the Memo in Healesville on Wednesday 27 February at 6:45pm. endobj Our land of migrants, from the very first in their canoes or who even walked here. The validity of the will remains a problem. [42] Elsewhere he states that Hoddinotts desire to remain anonymous would seem to indicate that the telling of the story may have had undesirable repercussions. endobj %%EOF They proposed a different name: Bunjileene-Purrine. 0000116989 00000 n Gary Foley's Koori History Website http://www.kooriweb.org/foley/indexb.html Kevin Gilbert, Because a . 0000010708 00000 n Gardner claimsincorrectlythat Thomas was aware of the circumstances of the Warrigal Creek massacre, as he had recorded the details of it on two separate occasions. 148 0 obj <>stream 16 0 obj The themes in this page may cause distress. In the spirit of this year's NAIDOC theme Voice.Treaty.Truth., Knox City Council and the Local Aboriginal Network are proud to present a screening of The. Peter Gardner has written three books in which he asserts that Angus McMillan, The Butcher of Gippsland, was responsible for several massacres of Kurnai people. Lachlan Macalisters demand of Gipps to provide protection for the settlers gives the impression that the settlers were on the defensive against both the Kurnai and the convicts. [1], The estimates of numbers of deaths vary: some historical accounts say that 60 people were killed,[citation needed] while other sources suggest that up to 150 people may have been killed. 0000001936 00000 n In March 1840, twenty Bunurong men from Westernport escaped the supervision of Assistant Protector William Thomas to undertake a raid into Gippsland. Thats not to say they dont exist, but if you have knowledge of such I would be grateful to know it. Unfortunately, in Gippsland, his diatribe against McMillan has been conflated with issues such as Reconciliation and Black Lives Matter. It was well-acknowledged and put on the register of the national estate around the time., The house was built 20 years after the massacre and stands just 20 metres from the site. Bells account and the report of the massacre involving the Native Police in April 1845 can be found by simple searches on Trove. %PDF-1.3 So far, this has been lacking. Considering that Gardner has political motives and a disdain for objectivity, his work should perhaps be seen as a political campaign rather than as history. The Australian reported in August: The Prince George touched at Port Albert on the 25th ultimo, and reports that the Agenoria is taking in cattle there, the captain of which reported the blacks to be in a very riotous state. In his first notes [in the 1970s], he talks about the massacre and, from the beginning of my time here, no one ever kept a blanket over the story. One was a boy at the time about 12 or 14 years old. External Lived Experience Employment Opportunities, Complete the VMIAC Conference 2023 Survey, CEO Update with Craig Wallace | 17.02.2023, New Consumer Register Opportunity: Access Policy & Triage Guidelines, CEO Update with Craig Wallace | 03.02.2023, CEO Update with Craig Wallace | 20.01.2023. This essay appears in Decembers Quadrant. Build a site and generate income from purchases, subscriptions, and courses. One thing is clear from his work: the Kurnai men were warriors. The Warrigal Creek Massacre | About the film When Angus McMillian and the Highland Brigade rode through Gippsland in 1843, they aimed to murder as many Gunai Kurnai children, women and men as they could. Second, Hatcher arrived in Gippsland several months after Tyers, so it was just a tad late to be a cover-up. Many Bunurong joined the police and used the guise of their role to extract vengeance on the Kurnai. 0000002903 00000 n They will be immediately recommended to interested users. It was, of course, impossible to identify any blackfellow concerned in the outrage, and therefore atonement must be made by the tribe. First though, it is necessary to establish the circumstances that led to the European settlement of Gippsland and the resulting conflict with the indigenous Kurnai people, which is the root of the massacre story. According to Tyers, at least fifty Kurnai were killed by the Native Police and other Aborigines attached to the search parties. Fri., 27 May 20225:00 pm 8:30 pm AEST, Siteworks Workroom 233 Saxon StreetBrunswick, VIC 3056. [25], Tyers noted that the Kurnai were geographically isolated from all of the neighbouring Aboriginal tribes, none of whom could understand their language, and From this circumstance, the Chief Protector [Robinson] on his visit to Gipps Land last year, was unsuccessful in his attempts to communicate with them. The isolation from the other tribes meant that their fierce and predatory habits have received no check.[26]. Like Dunderdale and Thomas, he did not mention a mythical Highland Brigade and he was clearly not constrained by Gardners imaginary secrecy. Use your same username and password to log in and you'll be Gardners cover-up conspiracy theory thus rests on an obvious misrepresentation of Hatchers account. 0000005571 00000 n hbbbd`b`` K Gardner believes that the lack of primary evidence for massacres such as Warrigal Creek is due to silence and secrecy and this is a recurrent theme in his work. [45] Australasian 15 September 1923 p. 55; 31 January 1925; Glen Innes Examiner 31 August 1911 p. 6; Smiths Weekly 12 April 1919, p. 15, [47] Gardner (1990) Our Murdering Founding Father, Ngarak Press, Ensay, p. 40, [51] Stephens, Margeurita, transcribed from the journal of William Thomas; cited on Peter Crowleys website Snow on the Jeeralangs, [52]Adams, John (1990) From These Beginnings, Alberton Shire Council, Yarram, p. 21, [54] Tyers, Charles 1859 Submission to the Select Committee on Aborigines, Government Printer, Melbourne, p.77, [56] Gippsland Times 24 June 2020 (on-line edition), [57] Dunderdale, George (1898) The Book of the Bush, Ward Locke, London, pp.214- 215, [60] County Lands in the Parishes of Bundalaguah and Nuntin, 1857, W T Dawson, District Surveyor, on-line copy, NLA. 5|ya"R=:(O)Y?vM=u(f!ygaR@Dfx*qVhCqE CML@Ishk4 C&YE$A9M#~gyHN#,H^(eC:Z;o=ni!|"V?bx6c49Y+b FyELe_`GGWy&2SpKeQPZY4)OEe the Warrigal Creek massacre - possibly even a participant in it 10. T*,2$i ,2N0p$ rOE2)Tde$2([X~O`E([HH|MrJSo While we are not personally responsible we continue to live different experiences from these events; some of privilege, some of disadvantage, some unknowing. When Angus McMillian and the Highland Brigade rode through Gippsland in 1843, they aimed to murder as many Gunai Kurnai children, women and men as they could. 3 0 obj For them to do that and come up with a shared name was a major achievement. I have seen somewhere that this version of the. % Once again, Gardner corrected historical material when it did not agree with his Warrigal Creek narrative. This included five in the Border Police, one of whom held a ticket-of-leave. Balderstones home was built 20 years after the massacre which happened just steps from the front door. [44] The word colourful may have been more appropriate. Messrs. Pearson and Cunninghame have been the latest sufferers by those cannibals; it is not only the stock they kill we feel the loss of, but running the remainder off their runs, and the expense the proprietors are put to in collecting their cattle, and procuring guns and ammunition for everyone engaged in their employment.[22]. Peter Gardner deserves recognition for highlighting the reality of conflict in early Gippsland. According to Dunderdale, Donald Macalister fired at some Kurnai without any provocation. Launch date: Wednesday 4 AprilStratford Courthouse TheatreFree entry but bookings essentialRegister via Eventbrite http://bit.ly/2sTmWsCAbout the filmWhen An. Fawkner blamed them for most of the conflict between the Europeans and the Aborigines. 0000115891 00000 n Balderstone and Irving hope that one day Australia fully recognises the extent of the massacres through a truth and reconciliation commission. 0000016727 00000 n 0000002096 00000 n The story was written anonymously for a magazine for primary school children eighty-two years after the incident described, without attribution, and by someone who was not there. This 50-minute documentary directed by Lisa Gye and Andrew Dodd examines a day in 1843 when 150 Indigenous men, women and children were slaughtered on the banks of what is now Warrigal Creek in Gippsland. 0000024998 00000 n 0000117321 00000 n Continue here for the tools you already love, but be sure to explore everything else A trip to Gipps Land in April 1843 The Courier 23 June 1843, p.4, [8] Caldow, W (2012) Gippsland and the Van Diemens Land Livestock Trade: The Log of the Dew Drop 1847-49, The Great Circle, Vol 34, No. They did not find any Bunurong so they ransacked a squatters station instead. Every day I look over and make sure things look peaceful there.. This was written two years after the murder of Macalister; stating that the slaughter took place after the murder does not necessarily mean that it took place because of the murder. The murder of his nephew gave him both a professional and a family interest in chastising the criminals, and he soon organised a party to look for them. Where I live you can almost point in every direction [to a massacre site], he says. The Kurnai people were the indigenous inhabitants of Gippsland when the first Europeans arrived. Gardner is dismissive, claiming that Some parts of this account are definitely wrong on the basis that Dunderdale referred to Macalister of Nuntin. The current awareness of the Warrigal Creek massacre stems largely from the writing of the self-published historian Peter Gardner, who contends that his work represents currently accepted history. This provides a contrast to Gardners analysis, which is based largely on a story from a schoolchildrens magazine from 1925. The Gunaikurnai people and Purrine was the head of the Bunurong up with a shared name was boy... Http: //bit.ly/2sTmWsCAbout the filmWhen an human remains were still visible after arrivals! 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